The shotgun, commonly used in hunting waterfowl and other birds, by its very nature has only a limited ability to carry ammunition. For example, single barrel shotguns can carry only one shell, double barrel shotguns can carry two shells and pump action shotguns can carry and transfer to the barrel up to eight or nine shells before it becomes necessary to reload. Reloading must also be done quickly and it is, therefore, advantageous to have the shells readily available for this purpose.
In response to this need, a variety of shell dispensing garments have been produced. The majority of these garments take the form of a vest and include a plurality of vertically oriented cylindrical shell storage pouches. Located at the lower end of each of the pouches is a shell retaining structure. It is the shell retaining structure and the means by which it is connected to the pouch and/or vest and the mechanism for releasing the shell that usually varies from one vest to another. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 516,967 discloses a cartridge pouch having a discharge tube connected to the lower end of the shell pouch. The discharge tube is outwardly flared at its upper end and is placed within the pouch so that the material covers the flared portion. A metal band is then tightly fastened around the discharge tube with the material sandwiched therebetween. The lower or dispensing end of the tube includes a pair of inwardly covered discharge springs secured on opposite sides of the tube on the outside thereof by means of riveting or solder. Thus, when the chamber is filled with cartridges, primer down, the cartridges rest upon one another, the lowermost resting partly below and outside of the mouth of the discharge tube, upon and between the spring-stop, the springs being of such tenacity that this weight of the cartridge will not spread or open them to permit the cartridge to escape. To withdraw the cartridge it is grasped between the fingers or between the thumb and finger and drawn out between the springs, the springs closing to prevent escape of the succeeding cartridge. One notable deficiency of this vest resides in the placement of the cartridges primer down as this could allow for the accidental discharge of the shell upon contact with objects commonly encountered in the field such as rocks, metal portions of clothing and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 487,556 to Dudley discloses another cartridge pouch. In this case the discharge tube includes a horizontal spring stop located near its bottom end. The inner curved end of the stop projects through the slot and intercepts the shell and prevents its usage. To discharge a shell, the outer end of the spring stop is pressed inwardly towards the tube, causing the inner end to move from a position blocking the passage of the shell to a second position which permits the shell to pass.
U.S. Pat. No. 466,428 to Dean discloses another magazine holder for cartridges wherein the cartridge discharge tube comprises a metallic tube that is attached to the garment using a wire encircling the tube and the garment end is drawn tightly around the same by twisting the ends of the wire at the rear of the garment. In order to further secure the discharge tube to the garment, the pouch may be slightly tapered to snugly encircle the tube. In one embodiment the discharge tube is tapered towards its lower end and is slotted to permit resilient action at that location. The shells are dropped into the pouch with the rim facing up and wherein a portion of the shell body extends out beyond the tube. To remove a shell it is grasped and pulled down, causing the tapered sides of the tube to spread, releasing the cartridge. The sides of the tube then spring back into position to similarly support the next shell. Additional embodiments of this concept are shown wherein different types of flat springs that are riveted to the tube are employed to attain the required spring action. As previously mentioned, the tube is connected to the pouch with a wire. This is less than optimal as with time, the fabric will become fatigued and will wear out at the point of connection therebetween.
Another shell dispensing hunting garment is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,649 to Jewell et al. The garment includes a generally rectangular base or back sheet member that attaches to the vest. A second sheet member is formed into upright loops and is attached to the base with rows of stitching that extend along the sides and the loops.
A shell dispenser is mounted in the lower portion of each loop passage of each loop to retain the shells in the loop passage and allow the shells to be selectively removed from the dispenser. The dispenser comprises a tubular member that is releasably mounted on the back member. The tubular member has a tube passage aligned with the loop passage for accommodating shells. The tubular member has a lower end that includes a shell holder, such as one or more flexible downwardly extended fingers or a lip that retains the shells in the tube passage. Each finger has an inwardly directed stop member that engages the end of the lower shell to retain the shell in the tube passage. The finger is manually flexed in an outward direction to selectively remove the shell. In one form of the invention, a clip hook joined to the tube is used to releasably mount the tube in the passage. This vest, too, has its inherent drawbacks. First, the shell is held within the tube in a brass-down configuration. This is potentially dangerous as primer could easily be struck by a rock or other object which could cause accidental discharge of the shell. Second, the tube is attached to the garment using a hook having only a single point of attachment which, in the long term will induce excessive fatigue in the button hole of the garment which results in the tube being ripped out of place. Lastly, the brass of the shell protrudes only a short distance out beyond the bottom of the tube. As a result, the shell becomes difficult to gasp and is, therefore, hard to remove from the tube when reloading.
With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the invention to provide an ammunition dispensing garment in which is safe as the brass portion of the ammunition remains within the discharge tube until removed therefrom.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ammunition dispensing garment wherein the shells are easily removable from the discharge tube.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an ammunition dispensing garment having an extended life wherein the discharge tube mounted to minimize and distributes the force generated when ammunition is pulled therefrom.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an ammunition dispensing garment that minimizes fatigue to the garment where the discharge tube is connected thereto.